Post by Zexian Krutz in Harem Hotel (18+) comments

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Let me to disagree with you, guys, waltercool and LunarD3ATH. This part of the story is very important. Slavery and principles of slavery were introduced from the very begining. MC for a long time ignored that fact and enjoyed his life as hotel manager. But this cant be ignored for all time. As a result, we have Maria story. Also, Cornwall have a possibility to recall slave ownership from any slaver at any time. Ok, lets imagine that Maria's story doesnt bring any sense to MC mind. What can happen next? Cornwall already have very strong antipathy against MC because of some incidents. Eventualy he will find that MC now own Sylvia. She is a running slave of Cornwall. How do you think what he will do. Easy, Cornwall will recall all slaves from MC: Lin, Sylvia, Nia and even Maria now. Plus, there is Ashley and her DNA never was confirmed for sure... who knows, maybe she is half-elf too. Do you realy think that MC can continue to ignore these possibilities and agree with everything that politicians will bring to him? Will he agree with losing Lin and Maria forever just because Cornwall has decided so? I dont think so.

Slavery problem has been bringed to light and now all main characters must do something with this. And, after all, MC and Lin are not the only people who are fighting against that sistem. Sooner or later there will be more. Revolutions doesnt begin randomly eventualy, someone must begin to do something and then many others will join.

Yes, this game has been created just as a porn game. But after all creator included some very strong story lines and now these lines must be somehow bringed to an logical end. Such logical event is revolution.

P.S. I know that my English is not perfect, so Im sorry for this.

Phoenix3 years ago(+5)

This. Slavery was a core theme from the get-go, and most of the characters we meet are directly involved in it, whether one side or the other. The outcome of potential liberation effects so many main, side, background characters and even us the player, as well as the world the game takes place in.

Just because wandering into the shower one morning and boning whoever's there because you're horny isn't related to slavery, doesn't mean the game is separated from the story.

ad240pCharlie3 years ago(+3)

I can understand the point that waltercool and LunarD3ATH are making, but I still agree with you. The direction the story ended up taking was certainly not something I would've expected at the start, and I can see how some people might be disapponted by that particular storyline getting so much focus in a game like this.

Making a game about a harem hotel, if the interactions with cute girls and sex scenes were all the game had to offer, would get a bit boring after a while so some more emotional and engaging content will be necessary if the game is gonna be as long as it currently is. Lots of great VNs end up including that kind of "surprise plotlines", Lucky Paradox and Once in a lifetime are two that come to mind for example.

And the idea of the revolution being started by someone who's just an immigrant hotel manager is probably the most fascinating part to me, and there are examples in history of social change being accomplished despite the movement being started by "nobodies" so it's not that far-fetched as one might think.

RuneyGames3 years ago (2 edits) (+7)

When I first created Harem Hotel, I wasn't sure where this game would go, or even what skills I had. In my mind, before I released v0.1, this was mainly going to be a game about tits and ass. I quickly realized I liked making story though, and realized I was getting a lot of compliments on the story so I decided to focus on that.

If this game were just about interacting with the characters, and the end goal was to impregnate them and marry them, I could have ended this game by now. So I agree that it would get a bit boring. Instead, I'd like to make an interesting somewhat serious story and I'm so happy people are enjoying it, the growth has been insane :)

I'm glad you like that premise!

ad240pCharlie3 years ago(+2)

Every sort of criticism is obviously going to be subjective to some degree, but it seems like a lot of people sometimes forget what "constructive criticism" actually means. It isn't just expressing your opinion in a polite manner, it's explaining WHY you think the way you do.

In a political debate, you can't just calmly claim that your opponent is wrong without providing EVIDENCE for it. Then you have to agree on what the goal of the political issue is and how "success" should be measured, otherwise you'd just be going back and forth. In a book, movie, game and any sort of narrative story, the "goal" of it is to reach what the creator intended, and the "success" is measured through how well that is being delivered to the consumer. If the criticism is "I don't like this kind of content, the game should be different", then that's certainly a fair opinion but it's not constructive. However, saying "If this is what you want out of the story, then maybe this narrative structure, this pacing, this scene or this way of doing it wasn't the best, and here's why it doesn't work!"

You need a perimeter from which to measure the the success of the story, and that perimeter should always be what the creator wanted out of it. You may not like what that vision was, and that's fine.

Let's take a different criticism. "I feel like this new update was a bit too heavily focused on the serious aspects of the story, and it felt like it could've done better with a little bit more lighthearted content to balance out the emotional scenes. It would give the player some time to take in what they just read and get them mentally ready for the next heavy parts." I may not actually agree with that particular criticism myself, but it's articulated in such a way that it takes what the point of the entire work is and what the writer wants and gives a suggestion on how that goal could've been reached more effectively.

To sum it up, every criticism is going to be somewhat subjective but the point of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is to make is as LEAST subjective as possible, by everyone agreeing on certain guidelines and measurements from which to approach it.

waltercool3 years ago (1 edit) (+3)(-1)

100% agree on that, and reason why I made my feedback.

Never said it was a wrong or bad decision. That strategy may work for some people, it may not for others.

I just gave an opinion, as a player. For the developer is always nice to have feedback if what you are doing is good or not for users.

My intention isn't to generate a whole debate, blame the developer or anything like that.

RuneyGames3 years ago (2 edits) (+4)

I appreciate the feedback, and I really appreciate you being coherent and honest. (Apologies for the other guy, I probably shouldn't have responded to him in the first place) As you could probably tell, your opinion was not very popular indeed, haha. (I didn't downvote you)

Lin is only one character though, the story isn't about an elvish revolution specifically. There's been 3 in the past, I could have covered one of those if that were the case.

I don't want to blatantly spoil something as big as the end goal yet since this game is still a work in progress, but you may be able to guess. This world oppresses all sorts of people, not just elves or half elves.

Elves are a big part of this game though, I won't lie. And the land of Syl'anar. It's sort of this fantasy continent on an otherwise earth-like planet. I thought I could do some fun things with that while being inspired by the real world.

Lucky193 years ago(+1)

Just as an idea, the shift in tone might be less jarring if the Lin, Savior of Elfkind storyline were locked behind the current Maria sucker punch storyline. It's not perfect, but it does provide a "well, yeah, they *would* try to do something after that". Though I don't know if would interfere with other things you have planned... On the plus side, it shouldn't break save compatibility.

I have been told that most people don't seem to find it quite as abrupt a shift as I did, however, so... YMMV.

RuneyGames3 years ago(+3)

Exactly this!

MC enjoys fixing these broken girls and helping them through their life. Most issues that the first floor cast had in their personal lives has been fixed, except a major common thread they all have. That being the horrible world they live in. The system hurts each of them in one way or another, and this isn't something they can fix individually or even with just MC's help. Instead they need to group up and make change.

Zexian Krutz3 years ago (1 edit) (+3)

This serious part of the game is what I enjoy in your game the most. There is not just "a hotel full of dolls for sex". Every girl have her background, her story and heavy problems. Every girl diceded to stay in hotel because of very serious reasons. And, ofcourse, when I play I can associate myself with MC only because he realy cares about these girls and trying to help them in any possible way, trying to give them hope for the future and protect them, he took a full responsibility about those, who decided to stay in his hotel... even elfs who kidnaped him - they asked MC for help and this was enough for him to help. "How many laws I already broke?!" he asks... and still he is ready to do even more.

Thank you again for this amazing story! This is realy a shame that I cant support you with money. I want, but I cant... But still, Im looking forward for future updates to enjoy the story you will create :)

waltercool3 years ago(+4)

It's okay to disagree, no worries. I just gave an opinion, never intended to make my opinion as statement.

My critic was related about how the game dynamics changed on last updates from a "sim date" relationship game, into a world-issue/conflict, which sounds more like an action-based history. Assaulting, murdering or overall violence part doesn't make much sense if you consider the whole Player personality, who is clearly not a conflictive guy.

And I must disagree with you on the porn part. Not everyone plays date sim NSFW games for just "porn part". Otherwise we wouldn't be discussing about the "history part" lol.

It's okay if the dev wants this way, it's just a feedback. Zero intentions to start a blame war or anything else. If I'm playing a nice game, it's fair as users to provide a feedback when you consider something is feels off.

Tiloleus3 years ago(+2)

This through and through. I read through and understand where everyone is coming from

Zexian Krutz3 years ago(+2)

Ofcourse I dont blame you for your opinion. Everyone is free to tell what he wants... wtf, we are here on this site because we are perverts who masking theyr real names and looks to be free in our opinions :D

Sorry if I made you feel bad, this wasnt my goal.

itch.io

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